Tell your patients with celiac disease or gluten allergies about new gluten-free labeling standards that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has set.
 
The new rules require any food with a gluten-free label to have less than 0.002% gluten – which is the standard in the European Union and Canada, according to an article in the Chicago Tribune.
 
The rules, which go into effect in one year, apply to labels of “no gluten,” “free of gluten” and “without gluten,” the article notes.
 
Avoiding gluten can help the 3 million people with celiac disease steer clear of health problems including osteoporosis, growth retardation, infertility, miscarriages, short stature and intestinal cancers, according to the FDA.
 
Users of the Medical Practice Coding Pro Decisions website know that to code celiac disease in ICD-9, you’d use 579.0. In ICD-10, you’d use K90.0.
 
If your patient has a gluten or wheat allergy, you’d use 995.3 (allergy, unspecified, not elsewhere classified) in ICD-9 or T78.40xA in ICD-10.